Blacking Up: Hip Hop's Remix of Race and Identity

When: Fri., Feb. 15, 7 p.m. 2013

When young whites embrace rap and hip-hop culture, is it an example of America moving toward being a colorblind society, or is it just another case of cultural theft and mockery? That's the fundamental question of this documentary. The documentary places the issues of cross-cultural appropriation and desire in historical context, drawing parallels between the figure of the white Hip-Hop fan and previous incarnations of white identification with black culture. Includes interviews with Amiri Baraka, author of Blues People; Russell Simmons, CEO of Def Jam Records; Chuck D of Public Enemy; Power (Oli Grant), manager of the Wu-Tang Clan; rapper Vanilla Ice; and Paul Mooney, a comedian and writer for "The Dave Chapelle Show." Dialogue follows film; facilitator TBA.